Comments about ‘U.S. Chamber study: Utah economy poised for major growth’

Uh huh. Must be why Mrs Fields is bailing and moving to Colorado.

Losing Ms. FIelds ... really, that is a big loss? I think not.

Utah is my home state, and a place I still have many connections. There is much of the culture there I didn't see before I left, and now that I am viewing it with some distance, I see some real issues for moving forward. But that said, the fundamentals are all there for Utah to enjoy good solid growth. It is a relatively well educated citizenry, it has some of the lowest employee costs and most progressive pro-employer laws, and is actually spending well on developing infrastructure.

The question remains is how open armed will non-LDS really be embraced as they come into the state and start disrupting the status quo. I think many like the idea of growth, but there are a lot of other factors that come with attracting a broad range of talent to the area. It is like convincing people to move to Mississippi. If you can't deal with the culture there (which isn't so much different than Utah), then people will not want to come. It is unfortunate because there is a lot more to both states.

The funny thing is that I have had liberals tell me how horrible Utah is for being such a conservative state. Now we see that conservativism works, and that businesses want to go to places where they are welcome. Some like Mrs Fields move to environments where their needs are better served (See "Cookie giant Mrs. Fields moving headquarters to Broomfield" in the Denver Post.)

Compare this to California where businesses are leaving.

To "UtahBlueDevil" don't worry about the non-LDS, they will be welcomed into the neighborhoods just like everybody else.

RedShirt... lets hope. My former colleges at Oracle have had a mixed bag reception. But you could say that about any location by a lot of different groups of people. Not everywhere is for everyone, and that's ok.